Gamification was definitely an important trend this year and it looks like it will continue to make an impact not only on marketing but also on education next year. The term „gamification“ has even made it to the US selection of Oxford’s shortlist for the Word of the Year 2011!

Gamification is defined by the Oxford University Press as

the application of concepts and techniques from games to other areas of activity.

Designing for gamification in education is not the same as as designing educational games. It is more about translating and transferring what we know about the potential of games for captivating attention, motivating to do things and coming back for more in educational settings. Andre R. Proto writes in his blog post on „Gamified Classroom“:

„With the current state of school budgets, teachers interested in gamification can’t depend on state funding to provide their class with…